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Coach Bass,
Thank you for answering my questions.
I have coached youth football for the past 4 years. The one thing I have noticed is the total lack of giving assignments for the defensive side of the ball. Other than attempting to teach D ends some containment, from what I have seen from our league is they line the kids up and aggressive kids make plays. All I hear said to D lineman is for them to get into the backfield etc. I am going to try to be the head coach of a 9 – 10 year old team this fall. I want to plan out a basic defense and assign jobs, then break the boys into positions and teach positions, then bring together as a team to reinforce where there job fits into the team.
I would like to give the boys an assignment, like I had when I played in High School. The holes we defined as gaps, A, B, C, D, E, sideline etc.
Say I go with a 4 – 4, the DT’s responsibility would be A gap, B Support, Attack and pursue etc. by this it means you defend the A gap, that’s your gap then support the B gap, if the play is away flow to the ball, swarm to the ball with a good angle. The middle backers would be B Gap, A & C Support, Attack and pursue.
Def ends would be C Gap, Contain, attack & Pursue, Outside Backers D Gap, C gap support, Contain to sideline. This is just a quick example.
My point is, that kids need to have a job every snap.
What do you recommend?
Thanks,
Pat
Hi Pat,
You have a great start for your base defense. One adjustment you might want to consider is having your DE who has contain get as deep as the ball on the offensive side of the ball on all running plays to the other side of the formation in order to be in position to make a play on any reverse or bootleg coming back to his side of the formation.
I am in total agreement with your concept concerning giving your players defined defensive assignments. First, I believe it gives your players a definitive starting point as to what area they have the primary responsibility to protect on each defensive play. They are not just lining up, standing up, and charging across the line of scrimmage hoping to run into the ball carrier..
With this knowledge they can gradually learn how to move to protect their primary gap and just as important how to take on any blocker in order to secure that gap.
From a coaching standpoint, with this style of defense, you have a much better idea of what has happened and where the breakdown might be when the offense makes a gain against a certain area of your defense.
It also affords you the opportunity to be able to make calls that change your base responsibilities if you feel that you need to strengthen a particular area of your defense. These calls can also be used to vary the play of your defensive front.
If an offense is running wide to your right, you might find it advisable, as an example, to make a LION call that would send both DT across the line of scrimmage to the gap on their left, putting the LDT in B, the RDT in A, the LIB could now go to C and play fast inside/out on the sweep, the RIB would check opposite A and get quickly into pursuit.
On short yardage or goal line defense, you might want to use a PINCH call that would send all four defensive linemen slanting hard to the gap on their inside, putting both DT in an A gap, and Both DE in the B gap on their side of the ball.
These types of adjustments to your base defense allow you to make the changes needed in order to be stronger at the point of attack.
To me the great strengths of teaching assignment defense has always been that you can easily make defensive adjustments, and that you have the flexibility to allow your defense to evolve in an organized manner once you have thoroughly taught your base defense [4-4]. Your have the knowledge of the defense to pin point breakdowns, and you can quickly identify the players that need to be coached, making the corrections, and allowing the individual to get back into the game and function properly as an integral part of your total defensive scheme.
Try to plan ahead for the game where you may have to face some sort of spread offense where you will need to move one or both of your OLB out into space for pass coverage and consequently you will need to cover your gap assignments for the run with just your 4 DL and two ILB. This type of alignment is certainly appearing on the field, so it might be a good idea try to think ahead.
Pat, I really think you are on the right track and what you propose will help you be a better coach and teacher and also help the performance of your players as individuals and as a part of the total defensive unit.
Good luck and please let me know how it works out,
Coach Tom Bass.